Final Debate Before Iowa Caucuses Shows Uncertainty at Top of Republican Field

Republican presidential candidates, including Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, had a last debate before the Iowa caucuses.Credit
Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press

The last Republican presidential debate before the Iowa caucuses, a sleepy affair, was nearly over on Wednesday when one of the less-known candidates, Representative Tom Tancredo, decided to mount an attack on one of the leading candidates.

“I have to say it, because you’re leading the pack now, and congratulations to you, Governor,” Mr. Tancredo began.

Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, who has devoted the most resources to winning Iowa, straightened at his lectern. “No, no, no, pointing right over there,” Mr. Tancredo said, gesturing toward Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, who has come from behind to show great strength in recent Iowa polls.

The moment highlighted the uncertainty at the top of the Republican field, with two former governors, Mr. Huckabee and Mr. Romney, battling for primacy in Iowa.

Mr. Tancredo questioned the sincerity of Mr. Huckabee’s recent shift toward a hard-line stance on illegal immigration. But the rigid format of the debate, which was sponsored by The Des Moines Register, did not permit a response from Mr. Huckabee, just as it had offered little opportunity for the candidates to engage one another.

They did take on the debate’s moderator, Carolyn Washburn, the editor of The Register, after Fred D. Thompson led a revolt over her request that they raise their hands to show whether they believe that climate change is a real threat, and caused by human activity. “You want a show of hands, and I’m not giving it to you,” Mr. Thompson said.

The candidates largely stuck to their talking points, which allowed Mr. Huckabee, a former preacher, to showcase his folksy aphorisms. Calling for more preventive medicine, Mr. Huckabee said it was cheaper to “kill the snake rather than just treat the snakebites.” On regulation, he offered: “I can’t part the Red Sea, but I believe I can part the red tape”; and, with a call for uniting the nation, he warned that the “polarized country has led to a paralyzed government.”

Mr. Romney, who is running a negative advertisement questioning Mr. Huckabee’s immigration record, largely refrained from attacking Mr. Huckabee at the debate, choosing instead to focus on his own business experience and his conservatism.

Mr. Romney also made a direct appeal to “the people of Iowa.”

“I need your help,” he said. “I’d like your vote. I want you to get out and participate in that caucus.”

But Mr. Romney did question Mr. Huckabee’s contention that he had the “most impressive education record” of anyone on the stage.

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“Just one small adjustment to what Governor Huckabee had to say,” Mr. Romney said. “I don’t believe you had the finest record of any governor in America on education.”

Mr. Romney cited the high test scores of students in Massachusetts when he was governor, saying that his fourth and eighth graders came out No. 1 in their English and math tests.

The tests scores in Arkansas were lower, but Mr. Huckabee also inherited a much more troubled school system. One of his big achievements came in 2002 when, for the first time since Arkansas started systematically testing students, a majority of the state’s fourth graders passed their math and reading tests.

Mr. Thompson, whose laid-back performance on the stump has sometimes drawn criticism, gave one of his more animated debate performances.

After Mr. Romney, talking about the tax code, said that he did not stay awake at night worrying about the taxes paid by the rich but did worry about those paid by the middle class, Mr. Thompson said, “My goal is to get into Mitt Romney’s situation, where I don’t have to worry about taxes anymore.”

He also scored an indirect hit on Mr. Huckabee when he said the biggest obstacle to improving education was the National Education Association, a union whose New Hampshire affiliate has endorsed Mr. Huckabee.

When Rudolph W. Giuliani was asked about his practice of billing obscure city agencies for some security expenses incurred by Judith Nathan, who was then his girlfriend and is now his wife, Mr. Giuliani said that he had not been trying to hide anything and drew laughs when he said that “my government in New York City was so transparent that they knew every single thing I did almost every time I did it.”

As mayor, Mr. Giuliani often tried to keep a tight lid on public information, even from other government agencies. When he tried to bar state auditors from evaluating city programs, he was rebuked for doing so by the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A34 of the New York edition with the headline: Final Debate Before Iowa Caucuses Shows Uncertainty at Top of Republican Field. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe